California Contemplating Legalizing Marijuana to Boost Revenue

July 10, 2009 by Tomek Pilch

The California budget deficit has state legislators thinking of new ways to bring the state out of its $26 billion dollar deficit. The latest way proposed is to legalize the sale of marijuana and reap the benefit of the influx in taxes that this would cause.

The latest bill on the legalization of marijuana was by Tom Ammino, a California state legislator. Proponents of the bill claim that if passed, the legalization of marijuana could generate over 1 billion dollars of revenue for the state annually. This estimate comes based on the bill’s plan which states that each ounce of marijuana would be sold with a $50 fee in addition to sales tax revenue.

Recently, an ad was placed on television by the group Marijuana Policy Project, which is hoping to garner support for the bill’s passage. The add features a marijuana user stating the problems that could face California if the state doesn’t raise money in some way. The ad then continues with a solution to the problem: legalize marijuana. The advertisement began airing earlier this week, and according to The Independent, several stations have dropped the 30 second commercial over fears that it may offend some viewers.